Diener & Seligman (2002): study US 1997
Publication
- Author(s):
- Diener, E.; Seligman, M.E.P.
- Title:
- Very Happy People.
- Source:
- Psychological Science, 2002, Vol. 13, 81 - 84
Investigation
- Public
- Undergraduate students, US, 199?
- Sample
- Non-probability purposive sample
- Respondents
- N = 222
- Non Response
- Assessment
-
Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)
Daily report of mood and activities during 51 days; peer ratings.
Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings
- Full text:
-
Various self reports and informant rating
A Self report on five questions repeated three times during semester:
a In most ways my life is close to ideal
b The conditions of my life are excellent
c I am satisfied with my life
d So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life
e If I could live my life over, I would change nothing
Answers rated: 7 strongly agree ...1 strongly disagree
(Diener's Satisfaction With Life Scale, SWLS)
B Self report on 24 questions:
How much of each mood did you experience in the last month?
BA LOVE
a Affection
b love
c caring
d fondness
BB JOY
a joy
b happiness
c contentment
d pride
BC FEAR
a fear
b worry
c anxiety
d nervous
BD ANGER
a anger
b irritation
c disgust
d rage
BE SHAME
a shame
b guilt
c regret
d embarrassment
BF SADNESS
a sadness
b loneliness
c unhappiness
d depression
Rated: 0 = not at all ….6 extremely much
Summation: balance score (BA+BB)/2 - (BC+BD+BE+BF)/4
C Rating of B by five informants
D Self report of daily affect on B
Summation: z-scores - Classification:
- M-AO-*-mqr-*-*-a
- Author's label:
- happiness
- Remarks:
- The highest 10%, the middle 27% and the lowest 10% were selected.
A check using three alternative indicators of wellbeing lead to the same groep assignment, one case excepted, which was removed. The alternative indicators were: 1) memory event recal balance, 2) trait self description and 3) suicidal thoughts
Selelected in two stages.
Stage 1: Four happiness measures were administrated
- Satisfaction with Life scale
- Global self-reported affect balance
- Informant affect balance
- Daily affect balance
Scores were standardized and the z score for each individual were added. The highest and lowest 10% of standardized scores were selected on the basis of this distribution.
Stage 2: Three groups were filtered with a discriminant function with three measures to determine whether these group members remained the same with three other measures:
- Memory event recall balance
- Trait self-description
- Interview suicide measure
1 Ss from very happy was removed - Page in publication:
- 81
- Observed distribution
- Summary Statistics
- On original range 0 - 0 On range 0-10
- Mean:
- - -
- SD:
- 1.00 -
- Full text:
-
Self report of daily mood on 24 questions
'Please indicate how much of each emotion you felt in the past month'
A LOVE
Aa Affection
Ab love
Ac caring
Ab fondness
B JOY
Ba joy
Bb happiness
Bc contentment
Bd pride
C FEAR
Ca fear
Cb worry
Cc anxiety
Cd nervous
D ANGER
Da anger
Db irritation
Dc disgust
Dd rage
E SHAME
Ea shame
Eb guilt
Ec regret
Ed embarrassment
F SADNESS
Fa sadness
Fb loneliness
Fc unhappiness
Fd depression
Answer options:
1 not at all
2 very slight
3 somewhat
4 moderate amount
5 much
6 very much
7 extremely much
Options presented horizontally
Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F - Classification:
- A-BD3-cm-mqr-v-7-a
- Author's label:
- Global self-reported affect balance
- Page in publication:
- 82
- Observed distribution
- Summary Statistics
- On original range -6 - 6 On range 0-10
- Mean:
- 1.80 -
- SD:
- 0.50 -
- Full text:
-
Self report of daily mood on 24 questions
'Please indicate how much of each emotion you felt today'
A LOVE
Aa Affection
Ab love
Ac caring
Ab fondness
B JOY
Ba joy
Bb happiness
Bc contentment
Bd pride
C FEAR
Ca fear
Cb worry
Cc anxiety
Cd nervous
D ANGER
Da anger
Db irritation
Dc disgust
Dd rage
E SHAME
Ea shame
Eb guilt
Ec regret
Ed embarrassment
F SADNESS
Fa sadness
Fb loneliness
Fc unhappiness
Fd depression
Answer options:
1 not at all
2 very slight
3 somewhat
4 moderate amount
5 much
6 very much
7 extremely much
Options presented horizontally
Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F - Classification:
- A-BD3-md-mqr-v-7-a
- Author's label:
- Informant affect balance
- Remarks:
- Rated each day over 51 days
- Page in publication:
- 82
- Observed distribution
- Summary Statistics
- On original range -6 - 6 On range 0-10
- Mean:
- 1.90 -
- SD:
- 0.70 -
- Full text:
-
Rating by family and peers of daily mood on 24 questions
'Please indicate how much of each emotion Ss felt today'
A LOVE
Aa Affection
Ab love
Ac caring
Ab fondness
B JOY
Ba joy
Bb happiness
Bc contentment
Bd pride
C FEAR
Ca fear
Cb worry
Cc anxiety
Cd nervous
D ANGER
Da anger
Db irritation
Dc disgust
Dd rage
E SHAME
Ea shame
Eb guilt
Ec regret
Ed embarrassment
F SADNESS
Fa sadness
Fb loneliness
Fc unhappiness
Fd depression
Answer options:
1 not at all
2 very slight
3 somewhat
4 moderate amount
5 much
6 very much
7 extremely much
Options presented horizontally
Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F - Classification:
- A-BD3-g-rdv-v-7-a
- Author's label:
- Daily affect balance
- Remarks:
- On average five informants rated each participant. The score for each participant was calculated by subtracting the mean for negative adjectives from the mean of positive adjectives
- Observed distribution
- Summary Statistics
- On original range -6 - 6 On range 0-10
- Mean:
- 1.60 -
- SD:
- 0.40 -
Correlational Findings
Time spend socializing
Hypochondriac (f45.2)